AT THE HELM: Hendricken quarterback Ryan Brannigan will be under center for the Rhode Island Governor's Cup team when it takes on Connecticut.

It’s been nearly a decade since Rhode Island has raised the Governor’s cup trophy, and thanks to head coach Chris Skurka, everybody on this year’s team is well aware of that fact.

And they’re doing all they can to be the team that reverses the trend.

Skurka, the Cumberland high school football coach who is the head man for the Rhode Island’s Governor’s Cup team this season, has reminded his all-star squad relentlessly during practice that it hasn’t beaten its counterpart from Connecticut in the annual game between the two states since 2002.

“Most of these kids are very good players on their own teams, and they want to be the best,” Warwick Vets linebacker Nick Salois said on Saturday. “They want to be the first Rhode Island team to beat Connecticut in nine years. The coaches remind us every day.”

This year’s game is set to take place on Saturday in Connecticut and will be the 14th match-up between the two sides, which pits the best seniors in either state against each other for a summer football game that has become decidedly one-sided.

Connecticut has won the last nine meetings between the two schools after Rhode Island won three of the first four. That gives Connecticut a 10-3 overall edge, and it will be looking to extend its winning streak to 10 this year.

Last year’s game was close through the first two quarters, with Connecticut leading 10-6 at halftime, before Connecticut blew off the doors in the second half and cruised to a 37-6 win.

But the 2012 Rhode Island team, which features eight players from Warwick schools on its 56-man roster, is united in its quest to finally get back in the win column.

While it was a little strange initially playing on the same team as some of the players that they played against during the season, everyone has come together and started to focus on the future, as opposed to this past fall.

Breting is one of five Hendricken players on the roster, along with starting quarterback Ryan Brannigan, cornerback Aaron Webb, wide receiver Laionel Cintron and offensive lineman Max Heintzelman. Salois is the lone player from Vets, while Pilgrim defensive lineman Alex Leddy and Toll Gate lineman/tight end Nick Carr are also on the team.

All eight players would clearly like to see significant playing time, but simply being selected for the team as one of Rhode Island’s best is an honor in and of itself.

“This is such an honor,” Leddy said. “Everyone out here is such good football players. It’s nice to have the competition. Most of us are coming from schools where there wasn’t too much competition. We all started pretty easily. Here, we have to work every day to just have a chance.”

And getting back into the swing of being on a football field hasn’t been too difficult either, despite the fact that most of the all-stars haven’t played since November.

Once the players get the uniform on and head out onto the field – and take a few hits – those familiar feelings come right back.

“It’s fun to play with these guys one more time,” Brannigan said. “After the season, we started to miss it. It’s fun to play again, especially with all these other guys, too.”

Those other guys include five players from La Salle, the team that Hendricken upset in the Division I Super Bowl this past fall. But there are no hard feelings, and everyone is simply turning their attention to the big game they’ll all be playing as new teammates.

“There are no bad relationships on the team or anything,” Brannigan said.

The Connecticut team that Rhode Island will be going up against figures to be formidable, as it usually features multiple Division I college commits.

This year, a combine was held for the team and a group of over 170 prospective players was whittled down to a total of just 55.

But Leddy is confident in Rhode Island’s team, no matter how much Connecticut is considered the favorite.

“I already hear the coaches say that Connecticut doesn’t want to play Rhode Island anymore because they feel like we’re not good enough for them,” Leddy said. “It would be great to beat them. We all know that they don’t respect Rhode Island that much as far as football goes.”

After last year’s game was played at Southington High School, the game this year will return to the University of Connecticut’s Rentschler Field, which is in East Hartford.

For the majority of the players on the Rhode Island roster, the game will be the only chance they’ll have to play in a Division I college stadium.

Rentschler seats 40,000 people, and while it likely won’t be filled, it should still be a venue unlike anything they’ve seen.

“It’s going to be a great experience to play at UConn,” Brannigan said. “Big stadium, lots of people.”

The game will be held at 4:30 p.m., this Saturday. Tickets will be sold at the gate.

And Rhode Island will see if it can spring the upset, and put an end to its lengthy losing streak.

“You don’t play football to lose,” Webb said. “I’m on the field to win every game.”